The Face and The Girl: Part 3
By SW Carter
Edited by EnvyMachinery
The continual question I compel myself to ask you—why? Such things elude easy answers, and spit in the face of fragile, attempted complexities. Mayhap there are no such answers to be found to this question, yet ask it we must. How does it apply to my situation, my dear readers? Why, oh dear heavens, why did I keep going back to that accursed, damned family? The dark brood from the hellish pits of my deepest dreams only known by the singular name of Deirdre must be avoided at all costs. Yet, for me, I must accept my place in their spider’s web now. Please spare yourself of such debauched inconveniences, if you can.
After my nightmarish adventures into the four realms of the demon gods, I followed the note placed on my nightstand. Mistake me not for a weak man! I ignored it for as long as possible, thinking it some kind of trap laid by the shadows that watch me even now from the corner of my abyssal office. Put yourself in my place. The scrap of paper claimed the name belonged to a therapist. I caved, unable to take the strokes of the haunter’s satanic caress on my face while I tried to sleep at night, and thought maybe in a brief bout of sanity I had acquired the name myself and simply forgotten. I should have ignored the loving call of logic and kept to my frightened instincts.
One fateful day I made the call, and the receptionist created the appointment on that very afternoon. Apparently, due to my obvious luck, a time made itself available right before I phoned. I sat in the center of my room, watching the clock tick down to the chosen time, surrounded by candles. I found them more reliable than the lights, which kept going out within hours of changing the bulbs. My invisible friend seemed to agree with me, for the flames were never once extinguished by an unidentifiable force. If even a creature from the pits of the underworld can be pleased, who am I to disagree with her tastes?
Only one incident of note happened within that duration, and unfortunately I just remembered it. You see, the pictures on my coffee table and walls changed as I watched their violated forms. I grew very cold as I watched the faces of those I loved become animated, and then melt away. In their place, the all-too-wide grin of the girl at the bus stop remained. Perhaps she merely wanted to show her approval for my choice of daily activity, or more than likely just enjoyed torturing me into a conniption of fear. However, I refused to scream; I gave her so many shrieks in those early days. Alas, I gave way when I felt a boney hand grasp at my shoulder, and the cracking of neck vertebrae, as her dislocated head came into view from my peripherals.
In a terrible yell, I fell forward, knocking the candles to the floor, quickly extinguishing their fires under my flailing body. I remember a haunting laughter as I pulled free and stumbled outside, my shoes already on just in case of such an emergency. As I looked back into the void-like shadows of my apartment, all I saw the was face of a smiling girl at the foot of my couch, the same one at the bus stop, as the door slowly shut itself.
Checking my phone for the time, I realized I needed to leave for the therapist. Oddly, I remember the clock showing an instance far earlier before the fright, but my ability to know time seems to have been pulled into the same pits I also misplaced my sanity into. I accepted the loss, and put one foot in front of the other as I began my quickened trot to the therapist’s office just a few miles from my apartment.
I remember vividly as I walked, hearing footsteps and bones crackling behind me. My stalker still existed even though she ceased to every time I gazed behind myself. Panic began to build inside my chest. I felt the heavy thumping of my heart, and moved at a quicker pace. She finally planned to make her kill, here and now? I refused to allow such a thing! I broke into a sprint, constantly looking behind me, determined to find her. Suddenly, my run broke with an abrupt stop as I collided with a feminine figure who met my path. I fell onto my face, tripping over the figure with a loud scream and then scrambled to my feet. With no intention of finding out who stopped me, I sprang forward, but a hand pulled me back and spun me around. My face met with an less-than-pleased police officer.
“Hey, wait a minute! Where do you think you’re going!?” she scowled, all the while not letting go of my arm.
“To the therapist!” I pulled my arm free, straightening my crooked coat and brushing off the pieces of dirt.
A mixture of confusion and understanding came over her face. “Oh, well it seems you do need one.” A smile crossed her lips. “You know something like that could be considered assault. You watch where the hell you are going, alright?”
“Fine!” Quickly seeing her scowl returned, I evened my tone. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you. I need to go.” I turned and began walking away. Just as I assumed to be free, she appeared beside me at the same pace, causing me to jump and grab my heart again in a sudden fright. “Please!” echoed aloud as I steadied myself.
“Woah, I’m sorry, I just wanted to ask if you were in any trouble.” A new look of concern colored her face.
“No, I just really need to make this appointment.” I allowed her to match my pace as I walked. I hated the new look of pity in her eyes. I never imagined I would ever be the subject of such a shame.
“Well, listen, if it’s anything dealing with the law, I want you to contact me. I feel I owe it to you.” She forced a smile and forced a business card into my hand. “Officer Rachel Kester is my name. If you are in trouble, or if you feel like you might be a danger to others, well, it doesn’t hurt to give me a call. Is that okay with you?”
I met her awkward smile with a look of deep despair. So, her ulterior motive is made clear, she just wants to keep the town crazy person in check. I fell so far in my sanity that now social normality became an impossibility. I looked away, a tear gathering in my eye as I stowed the card away in my front jacket pocket. “Yeah, that’s fine.” Several minutes of silence followed. She joined me all the way to the Deidre office. “Listen, officer, the building is this one right here. I will catch you later?”
Officer Kester gave me a pat on the back. “Alright, you get better. No more running into people.” She threw out a chuckle at her own joke, but quickly stopped when she noticed it wasn’t appreciated. “See you around, Mister…”
I ignored her. Answering with my name felt like further humiliation. I entered the building, shutting the door behind me with a slam, and then looked at the poster in the lobby containing the room numbers of each of the doctors. Kester followed no further, to my extreme relief. I headed up the stairs, making a sharp turn and gave a weak knock on the door labeled ‘Dr. Lea Deidre.’
A beautiful, young, olive-skinned, Spanish woman opened the door. “Ah, yes, I was expecting you. Please come in.” Lea opened the door wide, giving my hand a shake as I passed into plushly decorated room. Various shades of purple and white pillows, a large couch, a degree hung up on the wall, a wooden desk, and a plush chair next to the couch decorated the room. The entire room, clearly designed to be as welcoming and inoffensive as possible, surely must have cost a fortune.
“You promised a free first session, right?” I felt a sudden concern for my wallet as I grasped at it through my pocket.
Dr. Deidre let out a loud and heartfelt laugh as she put her hand on my back. “Yes, of course it’s free. Ignore the luxury. It’s the benefit of living in a big town like this. A lot of people need help.” Her voice was filled with a comforting tone, but for some reason I felt some kind of great panic pull over me. As if some primal need screamed out to run far away. “Please, make yourself comfortable, I am going to go pull some things from my desk.”
As she shuffled through her desk I turned to sit on the couch, freezing in place as my eyes fell upon a dusty wooden plaque which decorated the wall behind it. I felt small as I read the phrase:
Obtaining what I want
Loses who I am inside
“Like it?” Lea’s appearance gave me a small shock. “Woah, sorry, I get so used to being alone up here that I forget my manners sometimes.”
In a whisper I felt myself asking “What does it mean?” I turned my head slowly to meet her dark brown eyes.
“That sometimes we want something that won’t yield us any kind of happiness. The nine words of an ancient religion, I forget the name of which.” Lea gave a sad grin and returned her hand to my back, motioning to the couch with the other hand, “Please, sit down, and let’s begin.”
“Nine words…” I repeated to myself in a hushed tone as I sat down on the couch. I watched her thoughtfully take in my shock, pull out a pen, and sit down in the chair next to me. I noted her pauses in writing, stopping to gaze around as if she sensed something else was in the room with her. The strange thing is, I couldn’t feel my stalker anymore.
